Indie Book Talk
Navigate self-publishing from crafting an idea to the final book with Emma G. Rose and Shelley Shearer. Emma G. Rose is the owner of Imperative Press Books, a publishing house that amplifies niche voices. She is also the author of contemporary fantasy novels, including Nothing's Ever Lost, Near-Life Experience, and Assembling Ella. Shelley Shearer is a writer of cozy mysteries and urban fantasy. Her first novel, Menace at Meeple Manor, the first of the Board Game Mystery Series is coming soon. Find out more at ImperativePressBooks.com
Episodes
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Emma gushes about the new middle-grade book from Tim Cummings. Alice the Cat is an urban fantasy story in the tradition of Neil Gaiman, Tim Burton, and Caroline Thompson. Find out why this book is worth a read no matter what age you are.
Website: timcummings.ink
Twitter: @Cummingstime
Instagram: @octospark
Facebook: @maximumcummings
TikTok: @timcummingswrites
You’ve probably seen them in your social media feed, hilarious comics revealing the inner thoughts of cats, dogs, and other animals by comic artist Jimmy Craig. We talk to Craig about his process for deciding which of his They Can Talk comics made it into the book and why making a “gift book” just makes sense for him.
Genalea Barker is the first to admit that she’s a hot mess, but that hasn’t stopped her from signing contracts with two indie presses for three novels in 18 months. Writing across genres in the stolen moments between family obligations, Genalea calls her work “a sad song in a minor key.” She talks about her first novel, “Life After” and why she keeps writing despite the chaos. Genalea's Website: https://genalea.wordpress.com/
Alex Kenna studied both art and law before deciding to write her first novel. So, it should surprise no one that her first novel, What Meets the Eye, is a thriller centered around a work of art. She talks to us about her publisher, Crooked Lane, and how she’s dealing with some unexpected publishing challenges while also wrangling a toddler.
Website: alexkenna.com
Publisher’s Website: crookedlanebooks.com
Twitter: @AlexKenna9
In...
L.J. Stanton is the author of The Dying Sun and co-host of the Scribe’s Journey Podcast. She’s also working to shift how people with disabilities show up in fantasy stories. Stanton’s writing from experience, as someone diagnosed with Ehler-Danlos Syndrome who has a service animal and uses mobility aids. Hear how fiction can help people with disabilities feel seen.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Where do authors get their ideas? For children’s picture book author Sheryl Bass, it started with a sneeze. Her book Baby Dragon's Big Sneeze came from a silly thought caused by a tickle in her nose. In short, the idea was the easy part. She partnered with a book coach to get illustrations made and her book published. Hear how it all came together.
Psychologist Kacey Rayburn comes from Appalachia and a family she describes as “granny witches and gravediggers.” She tells us how she mixed this all together to create her gothic fantasy, Sing Our Bones Eternal, and then built a street team to help with book promotion and pre-launch. Plus, we discuss the benefits of bibliotherapy.
It might surprise you that even though Michelle Shores has a background in sales and marketing, she published her book The Gathering Room: A Tale of Nelly Butler without a marketing plan. But her natural tendency to talk to people and make connections has helped her sell 1,000 books in just 4 months. See how you can put her strategies to work for your next novel.
Website: mshoreswriter.com
Twitter: @Mshoreswriter
Instagram: @msh...
It started with a challenge from Marie Vibbert’s twin sister. “I’ll give you a gift for every 100 rejections you get.” Today Marie has placed 88 short stories with magazines like Fantasy and Science Fiction, Analog and Clarkesworld. She talks about how she does it, plus gives us a quick intro to worldbuilding using the example of her latest novel “The Gods Awoke” in this episode of Indie Book Talk.
Mentioned in this episode: Small ...
Working in marketing for a big-5 publisher, Nicholas Poe learned a thing or two about Google Ads and other book marketing strategies. He’s carried some of that over into marketing for his own book, Selection Day, published by the small indie De Novo Press. Learn from his experience on this episode of Indie Book Talk.
Website: nicholaspoe.com
Publisher Website: denovo.press
Sound of History Podcast: soundofhistory.podbean.com
L.A. Cunningham never meant to be an author. Not really. It all just happened. A blog let to a class which led to a Twitter connection which…well, we’ll let her tell it. She talks to us about Babies with Rabies, why she might die in a freak book-slide, and how she takes pantsing to a whole new level.
L.A.'s Website: lacunningham.com
Publisher’s Website: asapimagination.com
Twitter: @laurcunn
Instagram: @asapimagination
Face...
Most sci-fi authors live in the future, but Gideon Marcus spends most of his time in the past. For Gideon, the year is 1968 the Vietnam war is still underway, and Star Trek is in it’s second season on television. From that historical vantagepoint, he’s helping modern readers rediscover underrepresented science fiction classics and newer works from unusual and diverse viewpoints. So don’t touch that dial…
Journey Website: galacticjo...
10-year-old Harleigh Clark has a couple of big messages to share. First, kids should write books. She thinks its silly that even books for little kids are written by adults. Second, it’s okay to ask for help. She needed a lot of support from her grandmother, Lanette Pottle, her illustrator Sveltlana Lau, and the international community to make her book into an international Amazon bestseller.
Harleigh’s Amazon Author page: amazon.c...
Write a novel in a month. Sure. A page a day? Why not. But you've never seen a writing challenge quite like the one Briane Pagel set for himself. Write 365 stories in a year... oh, and the first story has to be exactly 365 words. Every day you write a story one word shorter until you come to the final day, the final story, a single word. We talk about how and why he wrote "Translated From The Original Shark: A Year Of Words" in thi...
Emma and Shelley share everything you need to know to successfully pitch a podcast. With advice based on the hundreds of pitches they've seen as podcast hosts. Plus insights from Emma's successful pitches to other podcasts. We talk about everything you need to know to land a podcast guest spot (and be an awesome guest during the interview).
Website: indiebooktalk.com
Twitter: @IndieBookTalk
Instagram: @imperativepress
Faceb...
High school is tough, especially when you're growing up as the only Middle Eastern girl in an all-white community. Anisa Ashabi funneled all her teenage angst into a novel she started when she was just 14. Years later, she picked it up again. With the benefit of hindsight, Finding Chaz was born. Anisa talks about her relationship with her brother, writing a book that's "too long" for traditional publishing, and her dog Anubis.
Growing up in a small midwestern town, Audrey Hanagan found her escape between the covers of Nancy Drew novels. She loved the adventure, the friendships, and, of course, the mysteries. There was just one thing missing...LGBTQ characters. So Audrey set out to write her own mystery series and normalize the presence of LGBTQ characters in the process. Here first novel, The Case of the Canine Capers, is out now.
Dallas Woodburn believes that creativity doesn't stay in one genre. Every author should follow the call of their creative heart to write the stories they have inside them. This might mean writing different genres, publishing with multiple presses, or tackling multiple formats. As a book coach and host of the Thriving Authors Podcast, Dallas has advice on how to do all that and more.
Mentioned on this episode: dallaswoodburn.c...
Author of Tudor fiction, Karen Heenan, tried out pretty much every type of publishing before landing on self-publishing for her most recent books. She talks us through her path from agents to pitch wars to small press and finally to self publishing, with plenty of side-quests along the way. Plus, her adorable cat sings in the background.
Mentioned in this episode: The Rebel Author Podcast
Also mentioned in this episode: Take ...
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